Conquering Fear

I'm so proud of my older sister Kristin. She is 30 years old and has had a fear of water since she was five years old when she almost drowned in a pool. My dad jumped in fully clothed and saved her, but that traumatic experience was enough to make her leery of water, to say the least.

Earlier this summer Kristin signed her three oldest boys up for swimming lessons. She went to the pool every morning for five weeks while her kids were in lessons. She decided that she was sick of being scared of water so she signed up for her own session of swimming lessons. When she told me that she had signed up, I was so proud of her. She had lessons for two weeks, and her last lesson was yesterday.

She made so much progress in her two weeks of lessons. She was so nervous on her first day that she cried (hopefully she won't mind me saying that), but by the end of two weeks of lessons she was swimming on her own. Granted, she is still nervous of the deep end, but she's learned how to float, breathing techniques and several different swimming strokes. She's going to need more time to practice before she is completely proficient, but she's on her way.

I'm just so proud of my sister and I really admire for doing something about this fear that she's had all of her life. I know where she's coming from since I've also had a fear of water all my life. I've never known how to swim, either, so I completely understand the panicky nervousness that comes from being in deep water where you can't hold your own. You go, Kristin – my little swimming hero!